🎙 The Hazara Review – Book Series

This episode continues our multi-part examination of The Hazaras of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political Study by Sayed Askar Mousavi.

Part 2 explores Chapter 1: “Who Are the Hazaras?” — a foundational chapter examining questions of origin, identity, ethnicity, and historical narrative.

The discussion analyses:

• Competing theories regarding Hazara origins

• The Mongol hypothesis and alternative interpretations

• Ethnic classification and racialised narratives

• Linguistic and cultural identity

• The construction of Hazara identity within Afghan historiography

This episode situates the Hazara within broader regional and historical frameworks, highlighting how identity has been shaped by political power, exclusion, and historiography.

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The Hazara Review provides structured, evidence-based analysis of academic works, legal reports, and institutional inquiries concerning the Hazara people of Afghanistan.

This episode examines Niamatullah Ibrahimi’s working paper, “The Failure of a Clerical Proto-State: Hazarajat, 1979–1984,” published by the Crisis States Research Centre at the London School of Economics .

The paper analyses the rise of the Shura in Hazarajat following the 1979 uprising against the PDPA regime, and its attempt to function as an interim Islamic proto-state. It explores the Shura’s administrative structure, ideological tensions, diplomatic failures, and the internal rivalries that led to its collapse in 1984.

This episode examines:

• The formation of the Shura as a quasi-state

• The role of traditionalist and radical Ulema

• Conflicts between clerical leadership and local strongmen

• Iranian influence and diplomatic miscalculations

• The rise of Khomeinist organisations (Nasr & Pasdaran)

• The fragmentation of Hazara political authority

This AI-generated podcast presents a structured, evidence-based summary of academic research in English and Farsi.

The Hazara Review documents scholarly works, legal analyses, and institutional reports concerning the Hazara people of Afghanistan.

🎙 The Hazara Review

This episode marks the beginning of a multi-part audio series examining The Hazaras of Afghanistan: An Historical, Cultural, Economic and Political Study by Sayed Askar Mousavi .

Part 1 explores the Introduction and Preface, where Mousavi outlines a new socio-anthropological approach to understanding Afghanistan through the study of the Hazara people. The episode examines key themes including national identity, Afghan nationalism, ethnic marginalisation, and the historical transformation from Khorasan to modern Afghanistan.

This foundational discussion frames the broader political, cultural, and socio-economic analysis that follows in later parts of the series.

The Hazara Review is dedicated to structured, evidence-based analysis of academic works, legal reports, and institutional inquiries concerning the Hazara people of Afghanistan.

This legal essay argues that the systematic violence directed at the Hazara community in Afghanistan fulfills the international criteria for genocide. The author highlights a long timeline of atrocities, ranging from nineteenth-century massacres to modern-day bombings of schools, hospitals, and mosques. By examining the Genocide Convention, the text demonstrates how these acts meet specific legal definitions regarding the intent to destroy a protected ethnic and religious group. The source details how perpetrators have used forced displacement, torture, and targeted executions to terrorise the population with total impunity. Ultimately, the document serves as a call for the international community to formally recognise these crimes and intervene to stop the ongoing persecution.

This 90-second legal brief summarises the September 2025 New Lines Institute report assessing whether acts committed against the Hazara in Afghanistan since August 2021 meet the threshold of genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention. It outlines key findings on protected group status, prohibited acts, genocidal intent, and state responsibility, and highlights the report’s call for international accountability and prevention measures.

This episode examines the September 2025 legal report by the New Lines Institute assessing whether acts targeting the Hazara in Afghanistan since August 2021 constitute genocide under the 1948 Genocide Convention. Applying the legal elements of protected group, prohibited acts, and genocidal intent, the report finds a reasonable basis to believe genocide has occurred and calls for international accountability.

This episode examines Arif Sahar’s 2025 article in Central Asian Survey, analysing the Hazara struggle for social and political rights through the lens of epistemic injustice. It explores historical marginalisation, structural violence, and the emergence of the Enlightenment Movement as a response to systemic discrimination. The discussion highlights how knowledge, voice, and recognition shape justice in Afghanistan.

This episode presents an AI-generated podcast created using a Google LLM, based on the findings of a UK parliamentary inquiry into the situation of the Hazara people in Afghanistan.

The report, published by a cross-party group of UK parliamentarians, examines patterns of targeted violence, systemic discrimination, and the risk of atrocity crimes facing the Hazara community. This episode summarises key findings, legal implications, and the broader international response required to ensure protection and accountability.

As a Hazara woman and advocate, sharing this inquiry is part of documenting evidence, amplifying parliamentary scrutiny, and ensuring that the situation of Hazaras remains visible in global discourse.